News digest 2 September 2013

News digest 2 September 2013

02 September 2013

Syria is still dominating the headlines with many of the papers focusing on US president Barack Obama outlining his next steps, he plans to consult Congress before moving ahead with any action against Assad. On this side of the pond there is still more advice for UK prime minister David Cameron with Boris Johnson in the Telegraph saying the delayed attack on Syria was good for Britain and the prime minister, while ex-foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind writing in the Times tries to up the pressure on leader of the opposition Ed Miliband with a piece provocatively titled: “Our reputation is in your hands” which would seem to imply that the leader of the opposition is calling the shots, that’s probably why chancellor George Osborne is on the attack although it could be the fact that the front page of the Indie reports that the government let a British company export nerve gas chemicals to Syria, as ever the devil is in the detail, but the fact that the government granted export licences says a lot about how joined up the approach to the Middle East really is.

Away from foreign news and the domestic front shows the two tier society advancing, as the Morning Star reports that the City is back on a recruitment drive for elite bankers, the Indie reports that new workers are being trapped in low paid, part time work while the Mirror features a TUC backed complaint about the abuse of agency workers under the ‘Swedish derogation’ which sees thousands of agency staff underpaid for doing the same job. On top of that the Resolution Foundation’s latest report says Britain is slipping in to a two tier nation, especially for the young who are increasingly trapped in low paid and part time jobs or facing the fear of not knowing whether they have any work as they languish on zero hours contracts and even those looking forward to retirement won’t fare much better as the Express says millions more will face pension misery.

But soon the TUC and many other bodies will not be able to speak out as the government’s pernicious lobbying bill comes back to the Commons. While Cameron said lobbying was the next scandal waiting to happen, the real scandal is this bill which will let his spin doctor Lynton Crosby continue to lobby – from the heart of government – while groups shouting out for people’s rights will be silenced. And that includes not just trade unions but lobbying groups like 38 Degrees that have taken the government to task over taxation and other issues – no one would be able to speak up on the scandal of the lack of a tax bill for the £85 billion Verizon sale by Vodafone for example – or even Greenpeace on fracking. So much for stifling debate, the lobbying bill would stop any debate, welcome to the wonders of Con-Dem style democracy, or the lack of…